BRW Rich List 2009, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010, WA Business News 40 under 40 Awards 2011 – the awards and recognitions that software engineer Zhenya Tsvetnenko has reaped comprise of every entrepreneurs dreams.
Startup News caught up with Zhenya by phone last week to discuss his background and touch on some of his new ventures.
To begin this story, we go back to 2005, where a young Zhenya was working a day job then coming home to work through the night on his own venture.
This was a time when feature phones ruled the market, Tsvetnenko developed a pioneering SMS gateway that allowed him to deliver content fast, and create new services within hours. He used this platform to deliver services like ring tones, java games, horoscopes and text alerts to mobile subscribers.
Time was his biggest challenge as he was still working in a software firm. He dedicated his evenings and nights to his passion and within a year, he had the gateway functional. Without any external investments, in 18 months, he was able to achieve $10 million in retail revenue per month.
Though he started out advertising through Google Adwords, by 2008, he had moved on to Performance Based Affiliate Marketing. Here, instead of paying per click, advertisers pay only when a sale is made. Tsvetnenko’s company Mpire Media, has now established itself as a performance based affiliate network and is now about to be listed in ASX. The company, which also offers software development services, has offices in Toronto, Dublin and Perth.
Tsvetnenko believes that having a marketing budget and using affiliate marketing is a worthwhile strategy for Perth start-ups.
Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin
Tsvetnenko has also entered the bitcoin business with his new venture Digital CC. Bitcoin is a virtual currency (or cryptocurrency) that exists as an alternative to traditional payment methods. According to Tsvetnenko, since bitcoin transactions are irreversible, with no risk of chargeback, they are perfect for merchants and customers trading in unfamiliar markets.
Bitcoin transactions have started gaining popularity with many big players like expedia.com, Dish network (US satellite TV network) and now, Dell Computers, accepting bitcoin payments.
A word to entrepreneurs
Tsvetnenko firmly believes that in his entrepreneurial journey, he has used lessons from every company that he has worked for. He has watched other people doing things that they loved and making money from it, and then decided that he too could do the same. This was his driving force that pushed him on to mobile content and mobile marketing.
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to go with whatever they really want to do; have a firm goal in mind and be willing to keep at it even when facing setbacks.
With so much on his plate, it is natural that Tsvetnenko doesn’t really get the time to be involved in Perth’s start-up scene. However, he does try to answer every one of the emails and phone calls that he receives every day. The ideas that are ready and working excite him most, and those are the ventures in which he invests his money.
Alphatise – the social commerce platform
Tsvetnenko’s major six-figure investment in Alphatise, a social commerce start-up, has also attracted media attention recently. Launching last week, both the innovative idea and the team behind it, caught his attention. Alphatise is a consumer-driven online marketplace where consumers can specify the exact product that they want (from a photo or a name) and the price they are willing to pay – and suppliers from around the world can choose to match the deal.
Tsvetnenko believes that it will be a win-win situation for the consumer and the supplier – the consumer gets to dictate the deal and the supplier gets access to the wide global market. Alphatise will also be looking to leverage bitcoin as a payment method allowing merchants and consumers to conduct transactions without fear of fraud.
Startup News wishes Zhenya Tsvetnenko all the best in his exciting new ventures and we hope to see him in the start-up community in the near future.
